• 096127 - CHEMISTRY AND MATERIALS FOR ENVIRONMENT

The course has two main goals: 1) to promote a deep understanding of the computational structure of the Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) methodology; 2) to apply this methodology to evaluate the sustainability of materials and processes. In pursuing these goals, special attention will be paid to the definition and construction of systems of environmental impact indicators to be used in the assessment procedure. A consistent portion of the course will be devoted to the application of the LCA methodology to representative real life cases, mainly taken from chemical and materials industrial real cases.

A third goal of the course is to give the basics of the materials science in terms of description of traditional materials properties and their main features to all those students that have never attended before any introductory materials science course.

DdD1: knowledge and comprehension

When the student has successfully passed the exam:

• Knows the fundamentals of the LCA methodology;
• Knows to the fundamentals of the environmental impact indicators to be applied in the environmental sustainability assessment;
• Knows the classes of traditional materials and their main properties.

DdD 2: ability to apply knowledge and comprehension

• When the student has successfully passed the exam:

  • Is able to apply the LCA methodology to simplified industrial cases studies

1. Life Cycle Analysis and Life Cycle Thinking: historical background, regulation, procedures, applications. Calculation methodology, databases and technical software. Sustainability assessment: introductory concepts.

2. Ecoindicators: mesurement methods, environmental and damage impact category, impact quantification;

3. Traditional classification of materials, their main properties and uses in engineering.

4. Industrial processes for materials productions: case studies (i.e. cement, polymeric materials, metallic materials and ceramic materials).

5. Materials End-of-Life: open and closed-loop recycling, re-use, waste-to-energy process, waste management processes. 

It is required only a basic knowledge of chemistry and linear algebra in terms of

- simple stoichiometric calculations,

- international system of units of measure

- matrix calculations

No prerequisite of materials science is necessary.

A introduction to traditional materials classes, their main properties and fields of applications will be given for those student attending the course and who have not been previously attended any introductory materials course.

Exercise sessions will be mainly quantitative; no specific numerical skills are required.

The final exam will consist of a written test only organized in three sections:

• Part A: numerical exercise on calculations of impact indicators;
• Part B: numerical application of the LCA methodology to a simplified case studies
• Part C: open questions on theory fundamentals

The test will last two hours; any supporting materials and electronic devices are allowed during the exam; there are no limits to the number of tests the student can attend to.

At the end of the course, there is the possibility for the student to attend an end-of-course simulation test, which is in practice an additional exam test.

Only a portion of the book will be used in the present course

Only a portion of the book will be used in the present course

Further reading for those interested in the computational structure of LCA